I have a couple of questions which none of three "sales reps(?)" could answer. Perhaps someone monitoring this list can offer their help and/or opinion(s) as to how well my idea might work. My questions: [1] Exactly how does the scan take place when scanning 35mm negs or slides? [2] Is the light source used for "normal" flat copy scanning turned off when scanning film or slides? [3] Should it be possible to scan old 8" x 10" and 5" x 7" glass plate negatives using a 12" x 12" light box as the transmission source, instead of the included film strip and slide light source? Once scanned, it is my intention to make positives by using the "negative" option for converting the scan. I realize there are more expensive ($1200+) scanners that will do the job, but this cost is out of the question for the small historical society who wishes to make a catalog of their holdings. Thanks! for any help or suggestions. Carl Sachs PS - An aside . . . While checking out the current crop of popular scanners, I noticed that nearly all are supplied with a bright white backing pad for flat copy scanning. Good grief! . . . doesn't this cause all kinds of bleed through? My current Microtek E3 came equipped with a black pad, but I still have to insert a black sheet between pages sometimes to prevent bleeding from adjacent pages. Comments?

Carl, I don't have a negative adapter for my scanner, so I turn my light box upside down on top of the negative on the scanner. I admit that there are disadvantages to this method: 1) The negative must lay perfectly flat, but with glass plate this should not be a problem. 2) The light box light seems to be a little too blue, so I usually have to color rectify, but I always check the color anyway, and I'm guessing your glass plate negatives are black and white. Still you might need to suck any stray color out of the scan that the light box might have introduced. In conclusion I would recommend to anyone to get a negative adapter if they can afford it, but for glass plate negatives you might try this. Vic Adams ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Sachs" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 5:00 PM Subject: [SP] HP-3570 > [3] Should it be possible to scan old 8" x 10" and 5" x 7" > glass plate negatives using a 12" x 12" light box as the > transmission source, instead of the included film strip and > slide light source?